Slytherin Slithering Secrets
by Happy Snow
Summary: Stories no other houses have heard of.
1. Fights

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, not even a small part! :D_

"Stop it, guys... we're supposed to be friends, right? Not be arguing over some petty little..." Theo didn't know how to end that sentence. What were they fighting about again? He would have to check with Draco again and hope that he wouldn't forget it the next time they fought again. This was getting ridiculous. Annoyed, Theo flicked his wand and shouted "protego", shielding both of those irritating teams from each other.

Draco sighed in exasperation. "Look, Theo," he yelled. "If you're not going to help me, could you at least not disrupt me when I'm about to win?" Theo rolled his eyes. No one ever won this kind of stupid fights. Both party lost in the end. He didn't catch what Draco wanted to win so badly either.

"No!" Greg shouted angrily. "He will be in my team! He is smart enough to know who will win!" Before Theo could yell at them that he already said he wasn't going to help either team no matter how many times they literally sang and wrote poems about how excellent his wandwork was, Draco had already replied.

"He is my best friend you big idiotic baboon!" Draco pointed out. Greg scrunched up his features as he pondered over it and Vincent, Draco and Pansy picked this chance and send furious hexes at the little protego shield. Vincent even violently threw himself onto the shield charm. Millicent and Daphne (who were on Gregory's side) didn't attempt to work up the shield to protect themselves but helped to destroy the shield instead. Theo rolled his eyes at them.

Of course, that was the disadvantage of being still seven. Your spells wasn't strong enough to hold for more than ten minutes with six little witches and wizards attacking it (Greg gave up on thinking and resumed throwing hexes), even if you were the best amongst them.

While they were trying, Tori suddenly giggled and Theo looked up at her with a "what?" expression. She giggled some more. "They're not very smart, are they?" She asked and Theo flushed, not knowing what to say. He rarely conversed with anyone if he could help it. Draco was only an exception because it's hard to be shy of a person you knew since you were well... born in his case because their mothers were close and Theo was younger.

"You are, though. Why do you stick with them?" Tori asked, turning slightly to face them.

Theo blinked. "Well..." he began slowly. "I'm actually only friends with Draco."

"Oh," Tori said as she glanced around. "Which one is Draco?" she asked. "The one who claimed to be your best friend." Theo nodded his confirmation as Tori squinted Draco. "He's kind of cute, isn't he?" That threw Theo of guard. That was Daphne's little sister talking about his best friend being cute, at the age of six. That was insane! Greengrass must have madness running down the family. Daphne enjoyed aggression and Tori was a... well...

"I think I'll have him some day," Tori decided while Theo shook his head in disgust. He turned at the noise of explosion and saw that his shield have just been broken. "Expelliarmus!" Theo cried five times, confiscating all their wands. He didn't need to do that for Greg since he ran around in panic to avoid the spell and before Theo could aim, Greg tripped and threw the wand away in attempt to break his fall. Theo caught it.

"You could at least not disarm us," Draco said hopefully, putting out his arm, indicating that he wanted his wand back. Theo shook his head stubbornly and stuck all the wands into his pocket. Draco growled and was about to snatch it from Theo and Greg ran straight into him, sending him flying. Here come the violent part, Theo sighed. That means the fight was ending soon with all of them running towards him to get themselves healed. No one every questioned why he could heal so well.

Sure enough, within the next five minutes, they had come running one by one and ended up in a perfect queue (Theo insisted they queue or they would fight over who would go first). One by one, he healed them. No one thanked him, no one bothered where he learnt those spells. Draco frowned as Theo used a spell on him which cause his badly bruised cheek to heal within a second. He gave him a "we'll talk about it later look".

After another hour or so, their mothers came to fetch them home and they all left almost immediately. Theo's mother, Katherine, lingered to chat with Narcissa, as usual, and Draco and Theo knew they probably talk for another hour or so.

"So..." Draco began, intending to ask about Theo's father but Theo interrupted him.

"Why were you fighting again?" Theo asked quickly with an uneasy grin which pretty much told Draco he forgot again.

"Because," Draco said, clearly exasperated, "We're the two most suitable candidates for the Slytherin leader as our father's are one of the most powerful people among the Dark Lord Circle. It does help that Aunt Bella is also part of the inner circle which basically mean I'm totally gonna win this thing. Well... yours is very powerful too but then you have no interest in it, which is good. I wouldn't want to be your enemy."

"That is quite pointless," Theo pointed out. "So what if you're the leader. Not everyone will listen to you or anything, right? They can't be that dumb. And how do you even know you're getting into Slytherin?"

Draco looked at Theo likes he was insane (which happened quite a lot since their views varied so much). "First, this is the Slytherin House. If you win, everyone listens to me. Even Millicent, Astoria and Greg. I won't lose to Greg and have to listen to him. It's simple embarrassing to lose to a bumbling baboon like him. I have Slytherin qualities, my dad was a Slytherin, my mum was a Slytherin, I want to be in Slytherin. Where else would I be?"

Truthfully, Theo cannot think of another house for Draco either so he didn't answer that question. He honestly didn't care about positions and knew it was pointless to row with Draco about that so he ignored it too. Instead he chose to corrected Draco. "She's Daphne. Her sister is Astoria."

Draco flushed pink. "Oh... yeah, I forgot." Theo hoped that threw him off-track. Maybe they could talk about stupid things. Like that most recent news. A lady called Mrs Zabini with 4 dead ex-husbands and a whole lot of fortune from each one is getting married to another rich dude tomorrow. It must be a record to have been widowed so many times.

"Why is the world so wicked to that poor woman... Mrs Zabini? She got widowed five times already." Theo exclaimed, completely changing the subject and catching Draco off-guard. He didn't want to talk about the dreaded topic and prayed that mother and Narcissa didn't have much to talk about.

"Widowed?" Draco said looking at Theo in surprise. "You think she's widowed?"

Theo looked uncertainly at Draco. "Well... her husband died so she is widowed, right?"

Draco laughed out loud and Theo was offended, turning away from Draco huffily and rather childishly with a little "hmph" which just made Draco laughed louder. "Merlin, Theo, really? I'm telling you, she murdered all her husbands! She's a lunatic, that one!"

Theo looked at him like he was crazy. "She is married to them, Draco. They bloody love each other. Why in the world would she kill him... uh, them?"

"Simple," Draco answered. "Money."

Theo frowned instead. "Money? Your parents don't kill their spouse for money. Neither did mine," he stated firmly.

Draco rolled his eyes. "Theo... our parents are bloody rich. They don't need money. I'm telling you. She married them for money. The new bloke that is about to die is stinking rich too, isn't he?" Theo huffed again, refusing to believe anyone would do something so mean.

Draco chuckled. "I'm not sure you're going to Slytherin, Theo, with this attitude, you might just end up as Hufflepuff!"

Theo felt his heart rate increase, half in fear, half in anger. He spun around as Draco realised what he just said. Draco raised his arm in surrender and Theo pushed him up against the wall. "I will get into Slytherin. I will make my father proud. I will!" he exclaimed angrily.

"Of course," Draco replied in a strangled tone. "I was joking, Theo, and you're murdering me!" Theo put him down and sat down on the garden floor, facing the other direction, hoping Draco would keep silent and not bring up...

"What did your father do this time? You worked on your healing spells again and the only time you work on them is on yourself or with us. Since there was a rapid change, I'm assuming..." His voice trailed off, clearly not wanting to finish that statement but both of them knew what he meant.

Theo looked away, not wanting to answer, but knowing that Draco would persist even to the extent of asking his mother (it has happened before), he sighed and turn back around to face Draco. "He wanted me to learn the Cruciatus Curse this time and I refused. He... bound me on the chair and... used it on me."

That was the simplest explanation but having friends for so long, Draco understood. It was pretty much self torture. Struggling against the rope because of the curse and cutting yourself with the ropes. Draco put an arm around Theo, to comfort him and whispered that one day, they will show his father. Just then, his mother entered and not wanting to worry his mother, Theo put on his bravest smile.


	2. Little Death Eaters

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, not even a small part! :D_

**My dear son,**

**Under normal circumstances, I would certainly wish that my darling son enters my own and of course, favourite, house, Slytherin. However, as circumstances are very abnormal and I believe that he-who-must-not-be-named is not gone, I would not want you to interact that much with those little Death Eaters. I would highly suggest you pick Ravenclaw instead.**

**I shall name you a few of the little Death Eaters that I've heard of in your year according to their level of danger: Draco Malfoy, Theodore Nott, Daphne Greengrass, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bullstrode. I hope you will interact with them as little as possible.**

**Lots of Love,**  
**Mother.**

**PS: Oh, and the owl is your new pet.**

Blaise had just finished reading his mother's letter which arrived with an owl which somehow snuck onto the train but have thousands of bumps from being smacked around the hogwarts train. He stroked the owl softly and it didn't seem to hate him so he supposed it was okay. In fact, it was nibbling his hand rather affectionately.

He couldn't believe that his mother actually wrote a letter about houses! It was definitely his mother with that formal tone she was using with him but really? Did she honestly believe he could yell at the stupid hat and make sure he got into Ravenclaw? Does it really matter where he got into unless it is Slytherin since... well, he would rather not hang out with "little Death Eaters" as his mother so eloquently phrased it.

His train of thoughts had barely even ended when two boys flung the door open. Once they entered, they slammed the door shut. The taller and thinner (and scrawnier) and clearly more polite one, lifted a finger to his mouth to indicate he should be quiet. He mouthed a please to him too.

Blaise decided to remain silent as he had for the past half an hour or so. In about two seconds, a big bulky boy peered into the room and seeing no one besides Blaise, he turned and was about to move on when a second bulky boy (this one was slightly less bulky than the first) rammed into him. They pushed each other out of sight and rolled to a far corner, away from this compartment.

"I'll have to say I'm on your side, won't I?" the polite boy groaned in defeat.

The smaller blond one smirked at him. "And that just means I can rub it in Goyle's face that I was right! You're my best friend, Theo, of course you'd help me!"

"Draco!" The boy called Theo said sternly. "I did not agree to join because you are my best friend. It was simply because... because..." He stuttered, clearly not wanting to finish that sentence.

The tactless little blond grinned at him cheekily. "He was going to use Cru..."

"Don't say it!" Theo snapped. Draco rolled his eyes but he didn't say it. Wait... Was that boy about to say Crucio because that was the torturing spell and they shouldn't even know spells, much less spells like this unless...

They couldn't be those little Death Eaters, could they. He hoped not. First people he gets a chance to interact with (his mother never let him out of the house when he was younger) and it had to be dangerous people. Well, not exactly dangerous but their parents sure are. He traced back. What did they call each other? Draco (that's obvious) and Theo... Theodore? Just great. And it had to be the first two on the list. His fist clenched around the letter, tighter than before.

"I know you're here," a girl called out, not very loudly before she swung the door open and stepped into the compartment daintily before closing the door. The first thought that passed through his mind was that she was the prettiest girl he had ever seen. Draco seemed a little smitten by her too. Theo however, seemed to have no effect whatsoever to her beauty but quirk an eyebrow, as though asking a question.

"I'm getting tired of their consistent fighting," she explained completely ignoring the fact that Blaise was there but he caught the slight strain in her voice. "Just go out and say that you decided to join Draco."

"Why did you even join the fight in the first place?" Theo asked.

The girl giggled. "There was an uneven number. If I don't join, they can't begin and it was sooo boring there so I thought a fight could liven things up. Clearly, a fight between two idiots doesn't liven things up." She rolled her eyes in disgust.

Theo stared at her like he was seeing her for the first time. "Right... Real smart Daphne Greengrass. I don't even need to begin to tell you why Tori is smarter than you, do I?" The girl, Daphne, just laughed. Blaise sighed internally. Daphne Greengrass was third on the list. What was going to happen now? Vincent, fourth on the list, would stroll in here before he knew it.

And that was exactly what happened. Except Vincent was dragging the other fat boy, namely the fifth in the list, Gregory.

"I caught him!" He called excitedly. "I caught him, Draco!"

"Cool!" Draco said in response. "Thanks, Vince. And you lost Greg, just admit it!" He said to the boy on the floor. At this point, Blaise was about to chase them all out. Hey, what happened to privacy? They broke into his compartment and then start arguing without any consideration for his peace! He just prayed that Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bullstrode, sixth and seventh in the list would not come in.

Of course they stepped in next. Pansy sniffed. "It's not fair that you guys never call us!"

Millicent rolled her eyes at Pansy's reaction. "As long as I don't miss a fight (she cracked her knuckles at this point), I don't care!"

"There isn't," Draco said calmly. "We won."

Millicent growled at him. "No prove! Theo didn't say he'd help you!" At that she launched at him. Pansy rammed at her and before he knew it, they turned it into a full-fledged war. Great!

"Guys, quit fighting! At this rate, I'm starting to think it's addictive since you guys do it nonstop!" Theo sighed in annoyance to no avail. Blaise saw a spark of anger in his eyes a second before he finally lost it and yelled. "STOP! I was helping Draco. Now stop this incessant fight already!"

First to react was Gregory, whose mouth dropped open in shock. Millicent just returned to looking bored. Vincent was cheering. Daphne giggled, as though she expected it. Draco grinned smugly at Gregory and Pansy jumped and hug Draco in victory. His look changed into one of disgust.

Finally, after about ten seconds pass, the two parties shook hands, Gregory looking specially depressed. Theo sighed, this time in relief though. When their whole affair settled down, Blaise finally spoke for the first time. "Now will you get out of the compartment."

Vincent, Gregory and Pansy gaped at his daringness. Draco looked impressed and Millicent did too, but less. Daphne laughed, either at him or the three idiots looking at him with their mouth hanging open. If they didn't shut it soon, they would probably start drooling, which would be gross.

Theo was the first to actually move, pushing them all out and shooting an apologetic look before he finally did left. Blaise sat down in peace once again. The whole event had wasted so much of his precious time of trying to figure out how the hell to convince the hat that he was a Ravenclaw and not a Slytherin. He did not want to, in any case, end up sleeping in the same dorm as any of them, especially not Vincent or Gregory. He didn't mind Theo but he didn't really seem the Slytherin type anyway.

Bullstrode, Crabbe, Goyle, Greengrass, Malfoy, Nott and Parkinson all got into Slytherin. It was expected for all but Nott but Blaise swore he saw him twiddle with his robes, like he was nervous but he twiddled far too long. He must have done something but... what? How did he get the hat to let him in Slytherin.

Before he could figure it out, "Zabini, Blaise" was called and he walked shakily to the stool. The first thing he thought was, Please let me in Ravenclaw. Apparently, it wasn't the right thing to say. The hat got angry. Trying to trick me, aren't you boy? I've already been tricked once this sorting. I'm not going to tolerate it any longer.

Boy, the hat sounds angry. Does this mean Theo managed to trick the hat. YOU KNEW ABOUT IT! I swear this badge is produced of PURE EVILNESS! Before Blaise could explain he guessed and he barely knew Theo, the hat yelled "SLYTHERIN!" Great, just great. He just hope he got stuck with some people who were NOT involved in war.

He heard the loud cheers from Slytherin, almost as loudly as when the little Death Eaters got sorted in. Merlin, he sounded really prejudiced with the little Death Eater line but he didn't know what else to call them. No one goes reciting names in their head every single time you want to call a group of people, do they?

It was only when he heard the Gryffindor female prefect, Audrey, loudly tell a first year it was expected since his mother killed so many people who loved her and even married her for money, did he understand the loud cheer. He felt his hand curling into fists. His mother wouldn't kill. She is not evil... distant, not evil. At that point, he decided that Gryffindors were bad.

The rest of the dinner passed in a blur and once the Slytherin prefect brought them up to the common room, he headed straight to the room. Most of the first years were interacting and chatting, since they've mostly already met. Not him, his mother was never close to any of this people. In fact, she was rarely close to many. She attended muggle business stuff mostly.

He couldn't fell asleep and he was glad he couldn't. Because just by his luck, his roommates were Draco Malfoy, Theodore Nott, Gregory Goyle and Vincent Crabbe. Basically all of the little Death Eaters who weren't girls. He tried to ignore them but sadly, they remembered him.

Vincent cracked his knuckles and growled menacingly, "You were the boy that was rude to us in the compartment." Gregory joined Vincent in glaring at Blaise, who was resisting the urge to roll his eyes. Who was in that compartment first? But this was Slytherin. That wasn't the right thing to say, and he knew it.

"You have a problem with that?" He replied lightly, with the air of nonchalance. He might or might not be shaking like a leaf inside. He also might or might not have the urge to run away. Bloody hell, those two could look intimidating.

It was Blaise turn to roll his eyes. "What do you want? I need my beauty sleep, you know?"

Gregory blinked and turned to Vincent, as if unsure what they wanted. Vincent shrugged and they slipped back into their beds, to his relief. But then, he saw he saw Draco smirked and lean over mumbling something to Theo who smacked him on the back of his head.

At that sound, both Vincent and Gregory turned to face Theo who rolled his eyes. Draco waved them away and they went back to sleep. Their brainpower might not be much but he sure didn't want to try their arm power... although that could be all fats, not that he would say it to their face until he was sure.

That night, he fell asleep imagining himself being murdered by four little Death Eaters. It was just his luck that he couldn't have at least one non-little-Death-Eaters. Their fathers' must have pulled some string to put them together!

He woke early the next day, drenched in cold sweat, his mind still whirling in nightmares. They might or might not include certain little Death Eaters. The second he was ready, he stepped out of the room silently, going to make go to breakfast and leave for classes before any of the little Death Eaters entered the Great Hall.

When he finally took a first breath of air which is not shared with the little Death Eater and could feel safe, someone gripped his hand tightly. He whimpered in fear and could feel himself drowning in one of his nightmares. Wait, cancel... He didn't whimper. He made a small noise that sounded a bit like a tiny scream. Better than a real scream still though.

Slowly, he turned and he found himself face to face with... Theodore Nott. He felt himself breathing a sigh of relief, very obviously. Perhaps he was second in ranking for danger but he was such a nice and sincere boy it was hard to feel afraid of him. He could be a very very good actor but still, it was hard to believe.

Theo chuckled at his reaction, "Why are you up so early?"

Blaise felt himself relaxing that he didn't ask about why he had such dramatic reaction. "Umm... Overexcited. This is the first time I've ever had any real contact with people my age. And I've never gone to school either." Oops, he said a little bit too much.

"That sounds depressing," he heard a drawling voice said, which was definitely not Theo. Oh no... unlike second in ranking, first in ranking could cut off as scary extremely well. "Why don't you come over my house for the Christmas Holidays? You seem decent enough to me. Vincent, Gregory, Pansy wouldn't mind because I said so. Millicent wouldn't mind an extra person to bully (Blaise shuddered). Daphne would just have to suck it up and Theo have a mind of his own." In a stage whisper, he added, "And Theo's supposed to be a Hufflepuff so we know he will say yes."

Theo smacked Draco again. Draco smirked. "You were way more angry about that back in seven."

"I'm in Slytherin. They can't do anything about it now. There's no point in... except in front of dad of course." Blaise frowned at them in confusion but he was half-rejoicing that he didn't have to respond to Draco's offer. It would be rude to say no but saying yes... That would mean he must interact with them.

Draco laughed, repeat laugh, not snigger, at Blaise reaction. "He confused the hat! I've no idea how he did it but he made the hat show his house and change the words from 'Slytherin' to 'Hufflepuff'!" Blaise joined in the laughter but he saw Theo turn red.

"Back to the offer?" Theo asked, hoping to change the subject. Blaise groaned internally. He really didn't want to... Why not? He wasn't just sounding prejudice, he was actually prejudice. He was still naming them the little Death Eater when two of the highest danger ranking people are actually nice to him!

"Yeah... yeah, I'll go."


	3. Friendship

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, not even a small part! :D_

The two friends glanced nervously at each other. It had been a month since his father was arrested and they have been busy with their own problems. It wasn't like he visited either of them for such a long time either so they decided it was time they met.

Nervously, the tall blond boy knocked the door. Slowly, the door creak open a tiny bit and suddenly, a wand poked out in between. "Who are you?" A soft tensed voice asked. They shared another glance. It was definitely a female's voice which was rather familiar in fact but why in the world was there a random female who tried to kill visitors in Theo's house?

"Draco and Blaise," The dark boy replied. "Where is Theo and, who are you?"

The mystery girl snorted in a rather unladylike manner. "Such a typical answer, Zabini. I see you haven't change a bit. I shouldn't really be that surprise that you don't remember me but really, Malfoy? What do you want anyway?"

Draco, who hadn't have the slightest trace of idea who she was raised an eyebrow at the mystery girl who hadn't appeared which made the scene look strange having a boy raising an eyebrow at a wand which wasn't quavering at all or leaving their faces any time soon. "We're visiting our friend. Is that a crime?"

There was a pause which the girl took to contemplate her answer. Finally, she replied in a low voice. "No, no it isn't. Taking so long to finally visit your friend after he have just been orphaned is. And don't even pretend. Malfoy, your trial ended three weeks ago. Your father's ended two weeks ago. Zabini mother's trial ended two weeks ago too. None of them got into Azkaban. And I know you've been busy flirting with a certain Greengrass too, Malfoy."

Draco cheeks were tinged with pink as she mentioned his connection with Astoria. Not many people knew about their relationship yet so this person must have known them at Hogwarts. Before he could retort back about her poking noses into other people's business, the door swung open furiously and in the doorway stood...

Daphne Greengrass? She was never really close to Theo and this caused raised eyebrows from both boys... until they saw how furious she was. "You two have the cheek to come back here after two whole weeks of not visiting your friend, close friend too! Do you even know what he is going through?" Honestly, although both boys were rather close to her in school, neither had seen her so angry before.

"AND," she added. "So much for being your (she jabbed Blaise's chest) ex-girlfriend and your (she jabbed Draco this time) future sister-in-law. And don't even lie that you weren't going to propose because I heard you asking your mother how you should do it."

Draco's cheek got even pinker, if possible, but he managed a comeback this time. "We're no longer students and you're still eavesdropping? You didn't change much yourself."

"Except the fact that you got much angrier," Blaise mumbled under his breath, getting a well aimed kick. Draco sniggered.

Daphne, although she was still pissed off by both of them, managed a smile and both noticed it was a very tired one once she dropped the anger. Her whole body sagged with fatigue and she became even thinner than before (she was always rather slim). They shared another glance to which she mumbled, "I saw that."

She ignore it and led them up the stairs. What was wrong with their friend that he couldn't come down and welcome them in himself? As they reached the end of the stairs, Daphne turned around. "Look, I know I shouldn't have kept it from you but I thought you guys were going to come soon and see for yourself (she glared at both of them again) so I didn't send a letter. It's okay now, he's asleep but normally..."

"I can hear you," a soft voice, barely audible passed through the door and the two friends watched amazed as Daphne's face transformed into the most beautiful genuine full smile they've seen so far as she dashed into the room. As they walked in, they saw Daphne wrapping Theodore Nott in an embrace.

"You're okay!" she exclaimed in delight. "This is the first time in days!"

Theo gave her a weak smile. "Improvement?" She nodded immediately. Theo sighed as he stood up. All the other three Slytherins' noted that his legs wobbled a little before he managed to get up. "I'll go get tea for you." He nodded at his friends, gracing them with a smile that they later discovered they probably didn't deserve.

"So... what's up with him?" Blaise asked.

Daphne sighed. Her smile have been depressed by her obvious tiredness she didn't bother to hide now that the initial moment of joy have passed. Now that they were close enough, they saw things that you wouldn't normally find on Daphne Greengrass who was rather vain back in school. Her hair was in a mess. She wasn't wearing a single touch of make-up. Her eye bags were rather deep. Even the clothes she wore was rather crumpled.

"Daphne," Blaise said in awe. "What happened to you?"

She didn't reply his question. "Theo's father got sent to Azkaban, you know." Draco shifted his weight from one foot to another in discomfort. Okay, he got it. They were in the wrong. Did she really have to make them feel so guilty. She didn't stop there though, feeding them information they should've known before her.

"His father didn't just get sent to Azkaban. They decided to give him the Dementor's kiss. They made Theo watch it." She practically hissed the last part of the sentence. "Then he came back and when I visited him he was all..." Her voice broke like she didn't want to finish that sentence, didn't want to believe it. But as she looked up bravely and opened her mouth to tell them, they heard a loud crash. It was followed by the sound of someone falling on to the fall.

Before either Draco or Blaise could react, Daphne have already bounded down the stairs into the kitchen where the sound came from. Shrugging, they followed her down the staircase. Their jaws drop open as they took in the sight.

The tea that Theo was going to bring for them have been spilled all over the place and the to cups were broken. He was sitting on the floor where he crashed, his eyes glazed over with fear and horror as he stared into space. Daphne had ignored all the broken utensils and spilled drink and walked right over to him, slowly lifting him up.

He leaned heavily on her and she stumbled a little before she helped him back up the stairs. They caught him murmuring about his father. "They were empty, his eyes were empty, Daphne. He just ate and sleep and he's just heartless. He kills anyone on sight. He tried to kill me, Daph. He... he's gone. Just poofed into the air and..."

Daphne bit her lips to refrain herself from pointing out that he was always heartless and he tortured Theo before so trying to kill him wasn't such a surprise to her. She just supported him, nodding and comforting him but they could see her mind whirling that he was too unworthy of  
him to think about. After about fifteen minutes, she finally comforted him back to sleep, but not even a peaceful one as he tossed and turned around, clearly stressed out.

When she returned to his friends, they were both rendered speechless. Of all things they expected, this was definitely not it. Theo was always strongest among them all. But of course, he also loved the most, even his father which led to this downfall. They sat in silence as they recalled the old Theo, the one that they knew.

Daphne broke the silence. "They could've killed his father. He could bury him and get over with it but they let him watch because they knew it was torture. They believed he was involved in Dark Arts but he doesn't have the Dark Mark so they cannot arrest him.

Draco snorted and Blaise sniggered. The image of Theo dealing with Dark Arts was just strange. Only when Blaise finished sniggering did he reply, "And they said we're evil. They hurt innocent as much as we do!" They noted that her lips twitched upwards a little.

"Daphne?" Draco said and she turned to face him. "Go home. We'll take turns to care for him, alright? You're right, we should've been more responsible friends. We'll call you when it's your turn. You need to rest!" Blaise nodded in agreement. She glared at them for a while before she nodded, giving in with yet another sigh.

She raised her wand to disapparate when Draco pulled her back. "Tell Astoria I won't be able to make it for the date on Wednesday. I'll owl her soon." Eyebrows shot up for a few second before she nodded and successfully cracked a small smile before she left.


End file.
